Please Don't Laugh at Me...2WD vs 4WD when using a dually?

If you decide to not get 4x4 to save a couple grand there will come a day that you’ll regret that decision.

 

On the Tahoe there is a cluster of buttons that control the transfer. Most of the time it is in 2H however the option for 4L and 4H for say snow or rain is there. It would be governed by the tach situation for the engine to remain within it's limits.

I did not specifically seek out a 4x4 with this one, it happened to be available when I discovered it at 2500 sticker price and paid cash for it that day. I know with the local geography and certain roads getting washed out in storms either ice or rain that 4x4 will be the difference between getting home or not at all. Even then I keep a small saw in there so I can chop up trees to fill in a trench with a bundle to get across if I had to.

It carries a huge weight maintenance wise. Im constantly clucking over that front shaft, end and case as well as both axles and the contents of same. It will never be a vehicle for off road but everything I can hope for except towing (I have a class III on the back but do not expect more than say a 14 foot box trailer on there if at all)

I much prefer a 2wd like the last dodge manual shift 5.9 I had a few years ago until it was totaled. If I had to get a replacement truck, it will be another one like that one for this area.

a friend of mine had a older ford 350 with manual hubs and manual trans and transmission etc everything in the early 90's style. He knows enough to keep her maintain at any price because that is one truck that will get him home when everyone else is in the ditch with their fancy mobile 4 foot tablet equipped hogs.

 

That being said, I would never even look at a 2wd pickup. The 4x4 is worth its weight in gold. I may only need 2wd 95% of the time but it could mean the difference between making it home or being stuck.

 

4wd is #### nice when you need it if you've never driven a 2wd in snow and muddy snot before you're going to curse the first few times you try it.

 

That "shift on the fly" crap is overrated. To have it, you've either got to have auto-locking hubs (which require you to break traction for them to engage, not really all that durable, and are extremely overly complicated to mess with if you've ever got to pull the hub apart to do a wheel bearing, brake rotor, etc...) or the axles are always engaged, which wears out the driveline components and hurts fuel economy. Manual locking hubs are the way to go...simple and efficient. Lock 'em in when you need 4wd, and unlock them when you don't. You can still put the transfer case in 4L without locking the hubs and you effectively have 2L because the front axle isn't putting power to the wheels, so even when traction is good you can gear down for low-speed maneuvering without binding up the drive line.

It's also a good safety feature. Have a u-joint go bad on you on your main drive shaft? Pull it, put it in 4wd, and you've got a front wheel drive truck that can be safely driven to a shop.

And in the winter, if it's an automatic transmission, sometimes the transmission keeps pushing as you're trying to stop making it real easy to slide the front as you're coming to a stop. You can solve that 1 of 2 ways: 1) shift to neutral when you need to stop in order to disengage the transmission, or 2) lock the hubs and run in 4wd on slick roads. Now the front has equal push from the transmission, so it doesn't lock up at low speeds under light brake pressure as you're trying to stop. Added bonus is the powered wheels when you're needing to go again.

 

I very rarely lock the hubs on my F250 (manual). I lock the hubs and use 4wd any time the roads are slick in the Suburban (automatic). Suburban will be getting a manual transmission as soon as I can find a suitable one. It goes just fine in 2wd. Stopping is a little sketchy, though.

 

Like my dad always says, the people you see upside down in the snow filled ditch is the people with 4 wheel drives, everybody else just gets stuck.

 

I have a ram 3500 dually 4wd and I’m pulling a Kaufman mini 5 car hauler. I cross the state of Florida to NC,GA and TN and I never used my 4WD even on ice road.